Latch knitting-needle.



A. KQRNDOERFER, JR. LATCH KNITTING NEEDLE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24:, 1911.

Patented July 16, 1912.

2/ M Q :m. a

UNITED sTATn-s PATENT OFFICE.

AUIGzUSTUS KORNDOERFER, JR., 015 PPHLADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR FQNEriFOURTH TO JOHN J. TULLER AND ONE-FIFTH TO HARRY E. LA'IHAM, BOTH OFPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

LATCH KNITTING-NEEDLE.

To all whom tt ma'y concern:

Beit knownthat I, AUGUSTUS Kormnonnrnn, J r., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of liliil adelphia andState of Pennsylvania,

" f liave invented certain new and useful Imlocated in a manner-a0securethese results,

provements in Latch Knitting-Needles, of which the following is aspecification. v This invention relates to knitting needles of the latchtype, and has to do more particularly with a needle of that character inwhich the pivot for the latch is integral with the shank of the needle,as contradistinguished from those needles in which the pivot is set inand riveted to the shank.

The disadvantages resulting from the pivots of latch needles becomingloose is ell known in the art and need not be herein set forth, andnumerous attempts have been made heretofore to prevent the loosening ofthe riveted pivots, but at the present time no entirely satisfactoryneedle of this type has been introduced for the knitting industry. i Theprincipal object of the present invention'is to provide a knittingneedle which overcomes the objections inherent in the setin or rivetedpivot needle, by employing an.

improved form of pivot and latch which can be readily assembled inplace.

In carrying out the invention, I provide an elongated pivot in thechamber of the shank of the needle,'which pivot is preferably integralwith the side walls of the chamber. Attached to the pivot is a latchwhich has an enlarged pivot-receiving eye that is open or slotted at onepointinits. perimeter so that the pivot can be entered in the eye inassembling the latch, the slot be-' ing slightly. wider than thetransverse or H minor axis of the pivot in order that the pivot canenter the eye diametrically. The

slot in the eye is so arranged that it cannot move into alinement withthe major, axisfof the pivot during the natural movement of the latchwithin its prescribed limits be tween open and closed position, andhence the latch can never become accidentally de tached from the pivotafter it-is once properly assembled. Since the slot of the eye is thelatch, in the initial step of assembling,

will be in an abnormal position, or one lying "outside the normal rangeof movement of the latch. After the latch is applied to the pivot it ismoved to its final position with.

the slot of the eye out of alinement with the major axis of the pivot.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference is to behad to the ac-. companying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the improved latch needle. Fig. 2 is asectional perspective view through the pivot portion of the needle. Fig.3 is a -perspective view of the latch enlarged. Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive,are detail sectional views of the needle showing the manner ofassembling the latch. Figs. 8 to 12, inclusive, are detail sectionalviews of another form of latch and the manner of assembling the same.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate correspondingparts through out the views.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates the shank of the needle, whichhas at oneend theusual hook 2, at the base of which the shank isenlarged and provided with a chamber 3 for receiving the latch 4..:Extendihg acrossthe chamber is a pivot 5 {which is integrally connectedwith the side walls 6 of ratenteaa iyie, 1912.

surrounding this pivot is theeye T of'the latch 4. This eye issomewhatlarger than the eye of the latch of an 'ordinary needle;

and has an opening or slot 8 at a suitable point whichis' radial and "ofconsiderably less width than the diameter of the eye, for permitting thelatchx-to be assembled when held in one position on the pivotand to beretained thereon when in open or closed or intermediate positions. 1

r I As more 'cleiiri'lv shown in F igs. 4--to 12, inclusive, the pivot 15 -:is considerably widened or flattened,- )referably, although notnecessarily in the direction ofrlength of theshank, the major orlongitudinala-Xis of the pivot being substantially thesame as thediameter of the eye. The-slot-8. in the-eye of the latch is slightlywider than theiraris verse or-minor axis of the pivot in m-derito permitthe pivot to be freely enteredin the eye. As the pivot is of;rectangularv cross section, only its .endsfi'ind in. fact theeeorn'ers"of the pivot afi'ordl -ibearin'gszfor the latch;

and as the result, the latch has a four-point contact with the pivot, sothat friction is materially reduced and the latch can move back andforth freely.

In assembling the latch after the method depicted in Figs. 4 to 7,inclusive, the free or spoon end of the latch is left unfinished so thatthe latch can be inserted bodily into the chamber 3 of the shank, asshown in Fig. 4c, the length of the chamber below the bottom of thepivot 5 being greater than the length of the latch for permitting of theready insertion thereof. The initial position of the latch is shown inFig. 4E, where the slot or opening 8 of the eye is in alinement with anddisposed under the lower end of the pivot. The latchis moved upwardly,as indicated by the arrow, in a line parallel with the major axis of thepivot to enter the pivot diametrically of the slot until the latch is inthe position shown in Fig. 5. The latch is slightly rotated in thedirection indicated by the arrow, in order to throw the slot 8 out ofalinement with the pivot. This brings the tip of the latch out of theforward open side of the chamber 3, and it now merely remains to shapethe tip of the latch into the usual spoon. The tip being thus spread, itcannot reenter the chamber and assume the position shown in Fig. 5,because the width of the chamber 3 is less than the width of the spoontip of the latch. The latch is thus limited in its open position by thetip en- .gaging with the shank of the needle, as

shown in Fig. 6, and limited in its closed position by the tip of thelatch engaging the bill of the hook 2, as shown in Fig. 7 The latch, inmoving through its normal range of movement between open and closedposition, does not bring its slot 8 into alinement with the longitudinalaxis of the pivot, the slot remaining at all times to one side of suchaxis, and as a consequence, it is impossible for the latch to becomedetached from its piyot after the latch has been moved to and confinedin its normal range of movement by the spoon being formed on the tip ofthe latch after the latter has been engaged with the pivot.

The construction shown in Figs. 9 to 12, inclusive, necessitates adifferent method of assembling the latch. It will be observed that theslot 8. of the eye of the latch is located near the medial portionthereof, and furthermore the spoon on the tip of the latch is completedbefore the latter is assembled. The latch is first positioned asshown inFig. 8, withits slot 8 in alinement with the pivot and with its tipdisposed between the shank of the needle and bill of the hook. The latchis raised vertically to en- I ter the pivot into the eye, the tip of thelatch passing under the bill of the hook, as clearly shown in Fig. 9.The tip of. the latch is flexed to one side, itbeing understood thatthe-latch is "made of tempered steel ;or other resilient metal, andwhile bent thus to one side, the tip is swung forwardly past the side ofthe bill of the hook, as clearly shown in Fig. 10. After the latch hasreached a point in front of the bill, the lateral pres sure is removedfrom the tip so that it can engage the front of the bill, as shown inFig. 11, wherein the latch is in its closed position and the slot 8' ofthe eye out of alineinent with the pivot 5. ,Y'Vhen the latch is in openposition, as shown in Fig. 12, the slot 8 is also out'of alinemeut withthe pivot, so that it is impossible for the latch to becomedisconnected. In this form of latch, the slot is at all times at thefront side of the pivot. In order to detach the latch, the steps aretaken in the reverse order, from Figs. 11 to 8, inclusive.

From the foregoing, it will be seen'that the method of constructing thepivot and latch and of assembling the parts is extremely simple andcomparatively inexpensive, and as the pivot cannot become loose or bursform on the end as is common with the set-in rivet type of needle, themany disadvantages accompanying the use of this latter class of needleswill be overcome. Besides avoiding the great loss to manufacturers fromimperfect material resulting from defective needles, the presentimprovements will result in a considerable saving to the knittingmanufacturer from the needles themselves, because the breakage of alatch, for instance, does not render the whole needle useless, since thebroken latch can be removed and a new one substituted.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, the advantages of the construction and of themethod of operation will be readily ap- 5 parent to those skilled in theart to which the invention appertains, and while I have described theprinciple of operation of the invention, together with the device whichI now consider to be the best embodiment 110 thereof, I desire to haveit understood that the device shown is merely illustrative, and thatsuchchanges may be made when desired as are within the scope of the claimsappended hereto.

' Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, is

l. A latch knitting needle comprising a chambered shank, a flattenedpivot in the chamber, and a latch having a pivot eye 120 provided with aslot through which thepivot enters the eye and so disposed as to be outof line with the major axis of the ivot throughout the range ofmovement0 the latch between open and. closed position.

2. A latch knitting needle comprising .a chambered shank, a flattenedpivot integral with the side walls of the chamber in the shank, and alatch having a pivot eye provided with a slot wide enough to permit theone side of the major axis 01 the pivot throughout'the range of movementof the latch. i

A latch" knitting needle comprising a shank, a latch pivot thereon, anda latch having a pivot-engaging eye of fixed form Open in one part ofits periphery for the free passage into said eye of said pivot in oneposition of the parts.

4. A latch knitting needle comprising a chambered shank, a pivot of noncircular cross-section arranged in the chamber and being in its majoraxis of greater dimension than in its minor axis, and a, latch having aneye of approximately the same diameter as the major axis of the pivotwhereby the latch has bearing contact only with the portions of thepivot at the ends of the major axis, said eye having a radial slotthrough -Wl1lCl1 the pivot enters the eye diametrically and which is sodisposed that the major axis of the pivot will be out of line with thesaid slot throughout the range of movement of the latch.

5. A latch knitting needle comprising a chambered. shank, a pivot ofrectangular cross section in the chamber, and a latch having an eye ofsubstantially the same d1- ametcr as the width of the pivot. said eyebeing provided with a slot of substantially,

the same width as the thickness of the pivot to permit the latter to beentered in the eye.

6. A latch knitting needle comprising a chambered shank, a pivot in thechamber, said pivot being of greater width than thickness and having itsWidth extending longitudinally of the shank, and a latch having an eyeprovided With .avslot through which the pivot is entered in the eye, theportion ofthe chamber-below the pivot being of greater length than thelength of the latch to permitthe latter to be placed-in position forassembling on the pivot, said latch having a-widened ti for preventingthe tip from entering the c iamber to thereby maintain the slot out ofalinement w th the longitudinal axis of the pivot. In testimony whereofI aflix my signature in presence of two' Witnesses.

AUGUSTUS KORNDOERFER, JR.

\Vitnesses CHARLES V. NOEL, J OHN L. Sorrnnrnn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissionsrof Patents, Washington, D. G. i a

